BROCKTON – Every Wednesday morning, two student nurses in white lab coats and scrubs visit William Allen’s Abington home. They measure his vital signs, ask how his recovery is going and check his feet for swelling.

Allen, 72, has congestive heart failure. He was admitted to Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital last September, after a relatively healthy decade following surgery to deal with a severely clogged artery.

When he came in, his “heart was beating 100 miles per hour,” Allen said. He stayed in the hospital eight days and, before discharge, was provided information about the visiting nurses pilot program.

“It’s a convenience that I enjoy,” Allen said. “It’s bad enough I have to keep going to doctors appointments. It’s nice to have someone coming in to care.”

Allen was one of the first patients enrolled in Homeward Bound, launched last October to supplement a follow-up care program implemented a few years ago by Brockton Hospital for patients with congestive heart failure.

Combined, the programs have led to fewer re-admissions and a higher quality of outpatient care, said Advanced Heart Failure Program Coordinator Michelle Heath.

“It helps keep them out of the hospital, out of the emergency room, just enjoying their lives,” Heath said.

The cost of the visiting nurses – second-year students accompanied by an instructor – is currently being covered by the hospital through a grant. There are 12 patients enrolled and eight nurses who travel in pairs to patient homes throughout the Brockton area.

Since the program started last fall, none of the Homeward Bound patients have been re-admitted and not one has had to visit the emergency room, Heath said. The goal is for a six- to 12-week enrollment, depending on the patients’ needs. When one patient leaves, another can be brought on board.

Seeing the nurses at home helps clear up prescription medicine discrepancies, allows someone with expertise to ensure that vitals like blood pressure and weight are being properly monitored and gives the patient valuable face-time, Heath said.

“You have to have that relationship and that rapport with the patient,” she said. “They feel comfortable knowing that someone is checking on them on a daily, weekly basis.”

The daily check-ins happen by way of an iPad mini that is given to patients like Allen through the larger congestive heart failure program. A scale and blood-pressure cuff are attached to the tablet and automatically send measurements to the hospital when a patient uses it each morning.

Approximately 500 patients are enrolled in the heart failure program, some more active than others, Heath said. Back in 2011, when it was instituted, the national re-admission rate was 25 percent. Brockton Hospital was at 27 percent.

Page 2 of 2 - The first full year of the program, the rate dropped to 24 percent. It went back up slightly the following year, though still below the national average, and has held steady since, Heath said.

For Allen, the Wednesday visits are part of a comprehensive health plan that also includes weekly blood tests, primary care appointments and regular contact with his heart doctor at Brockton Hospital.

“They are typically really sick patients,” Heath said. “It does take quite a few people: primary care, cardiology, nursing, case management. It takes a team to help manage these patients.”